Columns: 7 Things to Do Before Path of Fire

In a few short days, Path of Fire will be hitting the homes of players around the world, with new content, new builds and amazing new features. Before that day comes, players will be frantically making sure they have everything ready for a trip into the desert. This checklist will help you decide how to best use your last days of Heart of Thorns.

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1 – Get your Heart of Thorns Mastery Points

For many players, the Heart of Thorns masteries are something you permanently put off, thinking that it can be done another day. But the days of procrastination are finally at an end, because one Path of Fire comes out, it will be months before the Heart of Thorns maps return to current player levels. It is vital therefore that any points requiring large groups of players, such as Vinetooth Prime and the many lanes of Dragon’s Stand. On top of requiring large numbers of players to get individual points, take in to consideration that experience must be earned in Heart of Thorns content- and the fastest way to achieve this is with the many meta events around the maps. Without players to do the meta events, this progress will be considerably slower, so get in now before it becomes abandoned! Keep in mind you will need these masteries to make ANY of the new legendary weapons coming, as they are still part of ‘Heart of Thorns content’ despite their release date.

2 – Hoard some map currency

The Heart of Thorns map currency is used for a plethora of things, from runes sigils and recipes to crafting new legendary weapons. It is vital therefore that you have a stockpile of these currencies before heading in to the desert, similar to the first point, it will become significantly harder to obtain them once the maps empty out and the meta events are less popular. Many of the runes, sigils and foods supplied in Heart of Thorns remain extremely powerful and have unique synergies with upcoming elite specs, so obtaining runes like Thorns and Leadership may become a top priority for any of you wishing to stay on top of new meta builds.

3 – Get gold!

A point that cannot be stressed enough. Gold is a currency that will always be vital no matter the expansion, and keeping a large excess before new content comes is without a doubt the easiest way to obtain new items. Gold will also breed more income for you, allowing you to invest in items that you believe will gain value in the new world of Path of Fire, or letting you craft new items early to sell for a big-time profit. Whilst nothing is more valuable that playtime- gold is a close second!

4 –Get your Gems

Once Path of Fire comes out, it is extremely likely that new gem store cosmetics for the mounts, as well as many convenience and style items, are added to the gem store. If you are a player who converts their gold to gems rather than buying it with cash moneys, then now is the time to convert. Prices will spike with new items, as they always do, and sitting on a nice stockpile of gems will allow you to buy the new items you want for less of a bank breaking price.

5 – Finish Legendary Items

Along with new content, new stats will be coming to Path of Fire, and that means that any legendary weapons or armor you obtain will become increasingly valuable, as they will give you access to these new stats from the get-go completely free of charge. This is especially significant if you have obtained Legendary Armor from any of the ways it can be acquired. If you are tossing up between shiny mist armor or a stat swapping capability, now more than ever the stat swapping will be a huge benefit to you.

6 – Hoard Materials

Some of you might have played the test weekend and thought to yourself ‘well, there are so many materials coming in, I had better sell now!’ This attitude might pay off for you if the loot tables don’t change at all, however it is extremely, EXTREMELY likely that the loot will be far different from what we have seen. On top of this, the expansion is going to add many new sinks for existing materials, and a new Guild Hall will be coming that will require new material sinks for anyone not swapping over an existing hall. This means that, more likely than not, many materials will gain value as opposed to losing it post expansion, and if you are fast enough and do notice significant drops beginning you will still be able to sell before any serious loss in profit.

7 – Sort out your Storage

Whether it’s a bank character, storage, materials or Guild Banks, now is the time to free up as much space as humanly possible for the new items. With the release of Path of Fire, many of the crafting materials WILL NOT BE ADDED TO MATERIAL STORAGE! This is completely new for Arenanet, and means that your inventory is about to get even more cluttered. The best way you can deal with this is to have as many slots in your inventory available- there’s nothing worse than being at the end of a meta event and realizing none of your loot has been going in to the inventory because of full bags. Give any excess items you aren’t using on your day to day to bank characters, guild banks or bank storage, and maintain a clean inventory.

Now, along with a bottle of water and a wide brim hat, you’re ready for a trip in to the desert! Is there anything else you will be doing to prepare for the sandy dunes of the Crystal Desert? Let us know in the comments, as well as what you’re looking forward to the most in Path of Fire!